September 25, 2012 6:07pm EDTSeptember 25, 2012 4:42pm EDTSummer Green scored three goals on Tuesday to lead the U.S. to an easy 6-0 victory over Gambia in the Americans’ second match of the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup

Staff report

Published on Sep. 25, 2012

Sep. 25, 2012

Summer Green scored three goals on Tuesday to lead the U.S. to an easy 6-0 victory over Gambia in the Americans’ second match of the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. The hat trick for Green, a native of Milford, Mich., was the 11th for a U.S. player in a World Cup match at any level.

Amber Munerlyn, Morgan Stanton and Toni Payne also scored goals Tuesday as the U.S. scored five second-half goals to pull away from Gambia.

“We got back into the locker room at halftime and got together and heard the words from our coaches, basically telling us to go back out there with intensity and spirit and try to score as many goals as possible,” Green said in a statement. “Being out there and playing with everyone was how I got my goals. That hard run from Darian (Jenkins) just stunned me. She owned it out there. That goal was all her. The effort from Britt (Basinger) to get all the way up there (from left back) was great and it was just an overall team effort.”

The U.S. (1-0-1) is tied with Group B leader North Korea (1-0-1) but trails by five in goal-differential. The U.S. faced North Korea on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET at Bayil Stadium in Baku. Only a victory Saturday would guarantee the U.S. a spot in the quarterfinals.

“This tournament is all about getting better and improving as you go on,” U.S. coach Albertin Montoya said. “I think we’ve done that so far and we’re hoping to get much better for the North Korea game. They have a very strong side, and it will be an entertaining match.”

“Now, it comes down to who executes the game plan the best, but I think the two teams that come out of this bracket will be very dangerous all the way through the tournament.”